Title: John Henderson Turner oral history interview, December 13, 1973

Identifier: OH0010   (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10924)

Description: Main topics of discussion pertaining to World War II submarines are the sinking of the U.S.S. SQUALUS in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1938 due to a faulty valve; problems with the magnetic exploders and the firing pins of torpedoes; tactics of sighting, approaching, and hitting a target; watch duty; use of wolfpacks and of appointed "moving zones" ; and techniques for photographing shorelines. Other interesting subjects included are the building of World War II submarines in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and sending them down the Mississippi River and through the Panama Canal to the South Pacific; a detailed description of the first sinking of a Japanese ship by the U.S.S. SCULPIN; preparing the U.S.S. BOARFISH to be turned over to the Turkish Navy in 1948; and congressionalpressures put on Captain Turner, when he was working for the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Union of South Africa. Interviewer: Donald R. Lennon.